Thanksgiving in California

We spent Thanksgiving in Santa Maria, California with our Carson family. It was a very needed and fun trip. We flew in to Santa Barbara. Braxton loved the airplane (and the train in the airport). He looks like such a pro sitting here waiting to take off. He is such a good traveler. 

With both of our flights to California, Braxton fell asleep as soon as we started to descend. For having only two 20 minute naps that day, he was a very happy kid.

As soon as we left the airport, we headed to the beach. Santa Barbara has some pretty awesome beaches. Braxton loved his first visit to the coast. He loved the sand, but the water was too cold. 

This is as good as family pictures get when you are looking into the sun...

At our first beach trip, we saw dolphins jumping out of the water. Braxton was ecstatic! It was a really neat experience. 

Later that week, we went out to Avila Beach. Braxton loved playing in the sand and digging with his tractors. Mynum helped him build a sand castle, and Livvy found him sand crabs, but he wouldn't touch them. Kyle got to try out paddle boarding with Topher. 

I enjoyed sitting in the sunshine. We had beautiful 70 degree weather throughout our entire trip. It was a freezing 20 degrees that week in Marietta. 

Braxton was spoiled with love and attention from his grandparents, aunt, and uncle. Livvy was so good with Braxton. She was always reading to him, playing ball, dancing with him, etc. It's pretty obvious that Braxton loved spending time with Livvy. 

Goleta Beach in Santa Barbara. 

The pier at Goleta. This is where Kyle and I got engaged almost five years ago. So, of course, we had to go take a walk on the pier. We had fun reminiscing and talking about how much has changed in five years. 

Braxton had fun "walking" Chloe around Grandma's house. I'm not sure Chloe enjoyed it as much, but Braxton was so cute and sweet with her. 

One day we all went to the Santa Barbara Zoo. It was so much fun! Braxton loved all the animals. In the middle of the zoo, they had a little kiddie play area with a hill and cardboard boxes to slide down. Braxton loved sliding with Livvy. It was so fun to watch him.

While we were in California, Kyle's brother Topher snapped some family pictures for us. This is the one that we used on our Christmas card. 

This one is my favorite. :) Kyle wouldn't use it for the Christmas card because he wasn't looking at the camera.

Last day in California and we headed to Pismo Beach. Braxton loved finding sand dollars and digging in the sand. A wave got his feet, so he was content sitting on a towel and digging on a towel...

Until he had to go... Maybe someday I will have a child that doesn't cry out in pain every time he has to use the bathroom. 

And no post would be complete without a picture of Grandma Carson and Braxton. Kyle's grandma is one of the most wonderful people I know. She is so kind and an excellent hostess. She went to the store before we got there and bought Braxton a bunch of little toys and books because she knew we wouldn't be able to bring anything because we were flying. 

My favorite part of the trip was cooking and playing games with Grandma. She told me all about dating grandpa, how he proposed, and what it was like becoming a mother to Myron and Colleen. She is a pretty neat lady. Thanks for letting us stay with you, Grandma!

It was fun seeing our Carson Family. We miss y'all! Braxton still asks to go to the beach. :)

Exploring Marietta

I have some major catching up to do on the four months that we have lived in Marietta. Forgive me, this post will be mostly pictures. You will understand why I haven't blogged-- we have been busy exploring our new home. And don't judge me for the quality of the pictures as 99.9% of them are from our phones. 

The Georgia Aquarium is one of our favorite places. It is a-maz-ing. Whale sharks, penguins, otters, manta rays, alligators, dolphins, octopus, Dory, and Nemo. The last two are Braxton's favorites. The tropical fish are so beautiful. 

 

 Braxton fell asleep as soon as we left after our first trip there. His little eyes and little legs were so exhausted. 

Marietta Square is my favorite place to go when the weather is nice. Cute little shops, yummy restaurants and this train. Braxton fell in love with this train the moment he saw it.

 He looks so little here. Can't believe it was only a couple of months ago.

Oh, the square has a fountain, too. Reason number 2 why Braxton loves this place. 

We have discovered a lot of parks since moving here. These pictures are from Laurel Park. It's close to Marietta Square, and is huge!

 This picture is proof that parks on the East coast are far superior to parks on the West coast. 

This picture is of Bells Ferry Park. It's tiny, but close to our home, so it's usually where we go to wear Braxton out before bed.

This one is in Woodstock at this HUGE church. I can't remember what it is called, but it was really cool.

Not as exciting, but Braxton loves the mall play area. It's free (win) and indoors (win) so we go here a lot. Especially when it's raining or really stinkin' hot. And Braxton loves the little kiddie rides. No quarters necessary, he just likes to sit on them. All of them. 

My friend Shayla told me about this really awesome community event called Touch-A-Truck. There are tons of different vehicles that they pull into a parking lot, and the little kids get to go crawl through them and honk the horns, push buttons, etc. They had tons of cool stuff-- a medic helicopter, tractors, a SWAT car, police cars, fire trucks, school bus, police wave runners, etc. Of course, Braxtons favorites were the tractors (no worries Papa, Braxton still prefers John Deere over CATs).

Kyle's work had a family day at Stone Mountain. We had lunch, mini golfed, got Braxton's hand arm painted, looked at pumpkins, and played all day long. It was so much fun, and Braxton loved it. 

Surprise! Another park picture! How can you not love this little face?

Braxton and I went hiking at Kennesaw Mountain. We went right at sunset so that Braxton could see the deer. Deer are one of many things that he misses about his Idahome. 

Seriously?! It does not get more peaceful than this. Reminds me of home.

Lastly, we have discovered several new restaurants that we love. Braxton's new favorite is Cheeseburger Bobby's. It's in walking distance of our apartment, so we go there fairly regularly for a treat. Their dipped comes are amazing. Braxton is now hooked on hamburgers- "Ham-mer-mers" as he calls them. He looks so grown up in this picture.

Sorry, or not sorry, for the picture overload. We are loving Marietta and all the wonderful things that we get to do here. It has been quite the adventure so far. We look forward to the summer when we will get to go camping, swimming at the lake, and on more adventures.